Chronicles of Noir
by Guntz
Summary: Noir had been raised by Hobbits ever since she came to Middle-Earth as a young girl. Under circumstances that Bilbo wasn't present at his home, she finds herself apart of Gandalf's schemes as the next burglar candidate to join the Dwarves on their quest to reclaim their home. As different as they are, they share one thing in common; they all want to find home.
1. The Lost Girl

Abelle Graham stared at the police officer standing on her front porch.

Like any other parent that loved their children so fiercely as she did, she knew what had happened before the man had the chance to tell her. There was false hope flaming in her, a chant repeating inside her head that everything was fine and it was nothing too bad. Just needed to get some papers and lawyer and she'd be out of the department with her child while giving them the biggest lecture of their life.

But it was not meant to be.

"Mrs. Graham, it's about your daughter, Celestine."

Her heart stopped and coldness settled inside her body.

Her baby, her's and Jason's baby... Oh, God! She clamped a hand over her grim mouth and she could not contain the tears anymore. The officer looked at her with regret and pity and it made the woman want to shout at him to leave her and slam the door in his face. But, she stopped herself, she had to know what had become of her little girl.

"Where is she?" she said with a low voice. "Where is my daughter?"

The officer didn't say anything for a while until he opened his mouth and answered,

"She's gone."

Abelle collapsed to the floor with a scream, she barely even noticed that her husband and two other children had arrived on the drive way and did not notice her husband holding onto her so tightly. All she could think of was a little girl that had started her first year of high school, had celebrated her fourteenth birthday just last week, and had given her mother one last smile before she left for a simple walk she did on a routine.

Every now and then as the years went by, someone would wonder, "Just what had happened to her?"

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Well, to answer about the girl in question, Celestine "Noir" Graham had found herself in an unexpected journey on her walk in the woods...


	2. Along came a wizard

**Author's Note: **Hello and welcome to this new but not original story of people crossing over to Midddle-Earth! As you readers can tell from reading the first chapter, we are now moving on ahead to what journey lies ahead for our young protagonist and all, though I have to warn you that some things are gonna be changed up for the greater good of the story. You might not like it, but it's the way things are. Think of this story as the Butterfly Effect. It won't be awhile for Thorin and his company to end up at the Shire, I have to cover of few filler chapters to get things adjusted with Noir in her place amongst the shire-folk, you guys understand. But don't worry, when we finally get to that point where the dwarves are introduced, it will be worth the wait! Ta~ta~ for now!

* * *

I stared up at the enormously tall elderly man looming over me.

It all started since I had awoken in the middle of the woods that looked nothing as remotely familiar to my backyard woods. At first, I just easily chalked it up to being embarrassingly knocked out from my earlier tumble to the ground and that my head was playing tricks with me, all I had to do was just walk back home and complain to mom that my head ached.

I walked for an hour and I had yet to find any familiar trails that led home. In fact, I couldn't find any trails at all. I had just fallen a few feet away from a single trail and yet when I awakened there was none to be found.

There was a hint of panic building in me but I pushed it down, I was still convinced that I was in the same woods and that my head was really more messed up than I thought. I simply chose one direction and walked straight on, determined to come across someone's backyard or end up where the forest ceased and the city population began.

Hours went by after walking and occasionally calling for my family, I was beginning to lose my composure and the little scared child in me had come out.

So I did what any girl in my situation did: cry.

I fell to the floor and broke out in choking, hiccuping, God-awful sobs. I was lost, alone, and scared shitless. I was starting to think I would never find my way home, animals would come out and eat me, and my family would never know what happened to me.

"My dear girl," someone spoke behind me. "What ever are you doing here and so far off from home?"

I jerked my head up to see the source of the voice, but I was met with gray robes. I arched my head further back until my eyes looked up to see a bushy-faced elderly man with a gray pointed hat looking do at me with those wrinkly blue eyes.

And there I was, looking up at an old stranger in surprise for not only his appearance but his choice of clothes as well. Honestly, the man looked as if he came out of a Harry Potter book, I was, however, glad to see another person. Better this odd ball than an unresponsive tree.

"I'm lost," I told him, my voice hoarse from all the crying.

"I see," he muttered and offered a hand which I gladly take and he lifts me up with ease. I look up at the tall elderly man and wondered if he stood to be eight or nine feet tall, he was ridiculously huge! "Now, let us be on our way to find your home. Wouldn't want to worry your family now, do we?"

"No, sir." I said and sniffed away the mucus that clogged my nose.

"My name is Gandalf," he introduced himself as we begin our walk to home.

"I'm Celestine, but my everyone calls me Noir."

"It is a pleasure to meet you then, Noir."

* * *

I liked Gandalf a lot.

My grandparents from both of my mom and dad's side had passed away long before I was born, so I was a child who never actually experienced getting to know her elders. With the time I spent with Gandalf, I was beginning to wonder if this was what it was like to have a grandfather, a man who had lived longer and was wiser than any other. We would talk for so long, some of it was plain weird to hear from what came out of the old man's mouth but it was better than nothing, and it was much more interesting to hear.

The old giant had so many tales that it could bring back an infinity of muses for artists to draw, write, and sing about.

I especially liked to hear his stories. Stories about an old forgotten race of men who roamed in the wild to defend the innocent from viscous creatures like goblins, orcs, and other evil entities. I was awed about the stories of the elves, ancient beings that had awoken when the world was young and how no one was able to describe their ethereal beauty into words.

And then there were Hobbits...

"Um, Gandalf?" I spoke up as I jumped over a fallen log, still following the giant's tracks.

"Yes, my dear?"

"What's a hobbit?"

At my question Gandalf stopped from his trekking through the thick, luscious forest flower and turned to face me with an expression of astonishment. I merely blinked innocently at him, wondering what had made the elder look at me with such a face.

"Noir, do you know what you are?"

"Um... a lost girl...?"

"Noir, you are a hobbit."

"Wait, is hobbit another word for human?"

He stared at me.

"Where are you from?"

"Uh, South Dakota?"

The tall elder gave off a long, tired sigh while I pondered what next question he would throw at me. Gandalf seemed to like to ask weird questions, so I had to get my mind pumped and ready to answer, I lost enough times in spelling bees and jeopardy contests with some know-it-all fellow students, I would not lose to him!

Half an hour later, it took me that long to catch on that we weren't playing a game of 20 questions. Nope, we were, in fact, having a serious discussion that I was no longer a normal-sized human girl but a rather shrunken sized one and that Gandalf was really five foot eleven inches tall.

Gandalf ignored the skeptical look thrown his way and walked down a road that he found a few minutes ago.

"You can't be a wizard, Harry."

"My name is Gandalf the Grey," the elder man shot back.

"Look Gandalf, I like you. You're a great guy, in fact, I kinda wish you were the grandpa I never had, but this is reality! You're not a wizard, you're an old man who's probably ran away from your retirement home and—"

"Ms. Graham, I understand that this is difficult for you, but you are no longer are where you believe you are!"

I had enough of the stupid games and demanded right then and there from the old man.

"Then where are we going?!"

He stopped in his walking to point at the direction we've been heading; a vast green valley full of rolling hills that had windows lit up because of how dark it was by now.

"My dear Noir, we are in the Shire."


	3. Somewhere over the Rainbow

**Author's Note: **Hi there! Another chapter to fill in this story. It's boring but it's just one of the many pieces of this puzzle to fill in and finally paint the big picture. We'll go over the few things Noir will have to adjust in living with hobbits and eventually open up her place amongst the dwarves! Hope you like this chapter enough to leave a revew!

* * *

I carefully sipped the hot tea after blowing away the steam, relief filling me from the long tiring day of walking and half-scares.

"Now, Mr. Gandalf," a voice spoke up with much serious, I was surprised from the change of tone of what greatly contrasted the one from earlier. "Where did you say you found the child?"

Short, round people with big, hairy feet and no shoes and curly masses of hair on top of their heads that almost obscured their pointed ears.

There was quite a commotion when Gandalf and I appeared upon the unsuspected denizens of the Shire. All of them were about my size, if not, a bit bigger due to the fact that most were a bunch of adults. There appearance was a bit a surprise from me, from their shoelessness and their ear shapes, tall tales from the woods begun to echo back in my head.

"Hobbits," Gandalf easily supplied to me when I gave hims a wary questioning gaze. "These people, Noir, are hobbits."

Was Gandalf really just a normal-sized man? Did I really shrink down some inches too short without realizing it?

No, it just wasn't possible.

Me and my old guide had headed inside a pub, The Green Dragon, and seemingly waited there. Other customers were not subtle in their whispering, pointing, and plain nosiness but I ignored them and focused on the mug full of water that Gandalf gave to me provided by the owners.

After what seemed forever, an important-looking man with a top hat and dressed in a fine suit had entered the pub and went straight towards us. I scooted closer to Gandalf, nervous and wary of the approaching figure but the older man patted my head to assure me all was right.

"Mr. Gandalf!" greeted the hobbit with the top hat, his wide smile and mirthful blue eyes blowing me away.

"Ah, Fortinbras, just the one I was looking for..." Gandalf gave an easy smile to him.

Half an hour later, pretty much past midnight and all occupants of the pub gone, except for some few, and I'm sharing a late tea time with a hobbit and elderly giant.

"My poor girl, I've lived in these lands for a long time and I've never heard of anything called South Dakota."

My stomach plummeted from the statement. Seeing my crestfallen face, the Thain (that's what Gandalf calls him) puts his hands in a manner to stop my torn look.

"But that does not mean we will not try and find out about your family."

I was full on doubtful at this point. Never before have I or my family come across anywhere called the Shire, and those stories from the forest were full on banging back and forth in my head at this point. There was denial, but the doubt remained with me.

"Then I trust you will look after her in the mean time?"

_'Mean time?'_ my head whipped to Gandalf as he stood up to his full height.

"Ah, yes, I suppose. It is my duty to see to the girl's predicament. Someone is bound to show up and claim their child."

"Well then, I'll leave it to you," Gandalf said.

"Wait!" I shot up to my feet and stared up at the tall man with wide eyes. "You're leaving me here?!"

In the long day we've been together, talking, sharing stories, and a couple of laughs, I grew attached to the eccentric old man. He was kind and helpful, he stuck with me to search for my family! I did not want him to just drop me off with a bunch of strangers and just up and leave me there! I wanted him to stay with me until everything just stopped being impossible and started to make sense!

Seeing the desperation, Gandalf sighed out loud. "Walk with me, Noir."

I obeyed, trailing after the old man and not looking back to the Thain. He ducked under the small door and walked a few paces ahead, he didn't talk for a long while. It was until we began walking the same path that we had come through that Gandalf spoke up.

"Your story has me wondering about your very presence in this world, young Noir."

I didn't realize I stopped walking until I saw him do the same a few feet ahead of me.

"Yes," I saw him nod to himself, his pointy hat going back and fro. "Yes, I believe now that you are no longer where you think you are."

"Gandalf... Where am I?"

"Somewhere that isn't anything you've ever known," he finally looked backed to me. "You don't remember how you found yourself in unfamiliar lands, do you?"

I couldn't call familiar trees, I didn't understand how a trail had disappeared beneath my feet, I just...

"No."

"Listen to me, Noir," Gandalf closed in on me, crouching low enough so that he was eye-to-eye with me. "You must remain here for the time being. Speak to no one about your condition, you understand?"

I nod, helpless once again like back in the forest.

"You, my poor girl, are a piece of another puzzle that I've need to figure out. I must go and seek out advice to those I trust."

"Can't I just go with you?" I whimpered, feeling tears begin to brim on my lashes.

He looked down at me with sadness.

"I cannot take you with me, for the road ahead is dangerous. I must go alone."

I couldn't believe I was gonna lose the old man.

"Can you promise to come back?" I asked him, I didn't want to be left here and forgotten.

He gave me a smile, "I will come back, my dear Noir."

With sadness, I hugged the tall man. A bit startled, Gandalf returned the sentiment and held on until I was ready to part from him. He stood up once more and offered me one last advice before he went off into the unknown, dangerous roads.

"You are in the Shire, Noir, and this means safety and comfort. Try to make the best of it."

Later, the Thain found me still standing on the road with my eyes following a distant shadow that walked down and up hills before he disappeared. The hobbit offered a reluctant pat on the shoulder until he had to lead me away into an inn where I had to stay until we could sort things out in the morning.

I just hoped I could hold out long until the tall giant would come back for me.


	4. The First Day

**Author's Note: **A short chapter but I was a little less motivated on doing it. Sorry, but I promise to pick up some pace by the next chapter. FYI, this story will take years before the events of the Hobbit. Don't worry, I said that these things will take a few chapters to have Noir adjust to her new surroundings in the Shire, get to know the locals and be familiarized with things. This is sort of a culture shock for her and she's got a lot to go through before we get to the point of the unexpected party.

Anyway, please enjoy and remember to review afterwards!

* * *

The moment my eyes opened and looked at the wooden ceiling, I felt a moment of sheer panic rush through my body. My grogginess erased and adrenaline pumping in and out of my heart like a man adding coal to the burning fire. The panic quickly subsided as soon as it had come, memories of the events that took place yesterday calming me down somewhat.

Was it wrong of me to have hoped that I would have awakened to the sound of my mom calling me from downstairs?

No, not at all.

This was real. This wasn't a dream. That day I went out for the routine walk in the woods just flipped my world upside down, meeting giant old men and hairy-footed people...

But there was a small hint of hope left in me yet. Gandalf went off to find some answers about me being here in the strange new world I've awakened to, and hopefully sometime soon I would wake up in a familiar bedroom with mom calling and my brothers getting ready to leave for hockey practice on dad's beaten pick-up truck.

Even with the inspiration and motivation calming me, I didn't feel like leaving the borrowed room any time soon. I wasn't ready to face the world.

_**Knock. Knock.**_

But the world wasn't going to wait for me.

"Hullo? Little missy, are you awake?"

With some courage, I slipped out of the bed and did a quick look over my appearance. Other than the fact my straw-colored, cascading hair looked like a rat's nest, I was okay. Quickly, after hearing another knock on the door, I fixed my hair until it was deemed to be appropriate and went for the door to answer my visitor.

On the other side was, obviously, a hobbit. He looked around my age, just a bit older, and he looked extremely uncomfortable. I didn't blame him.

"Uh, hi." I murmured, not sure of what to say.

"I hope you don't take offense of my boldness, missy, but you look horrible."

It must have been when I had cried and sobbed into the bed sheets last night, scared and lonely of being without my family and that tall grandfather-like man.

"Oh," I said.

"Right!" the hobbit looked ready to bolt. "I was told to recover you and take you to meet the Thain."

"Okay." I said and stepped out into the halls. Seeing as we both weren't going to say anymore, he lead me down the stairs and out of the inn where I began my first day in Hobbiton.

Everything was much more lively and brighter than it had been last night. For one thing, there were more hobbits scattered all around, and there was a market full of people that were scrambling for food and sorts of things I couldn't name. All the while we walked in one direction, I felt like I wanted to sink in the hole. Hobbits were staring at me, judging me from the distance that I felt embarrassed and quite miffed at their nosy expressions.

"Why are they staring at me like I kicked sand in their faces?"

The older boy noticed and gave me a sympathetic look. "We hobbits aren't very fond of Outsiders. 'Outsiders breed problems which breeds trouble to the Shire,' as my mam once said. It didn't help you much considering you came in with the old grey wizard..."

Wait, what?

"Gandalf's a wizard?" I looked at the boy with a bewildered look but quickly morphed into skepticism. "There's no such things as wizards."

It was his turn to look bewildered. "You never knew you traveled with a wizard?! And you can bet my cabbages that he too is a wizard! Gandalf the wandering Grey Pilgrim, they call him!"

"Whatever..." I muttered and took interest at looking at the many hills, er, houses. "What's your name?"

"Timothy Brown, but my friends call me Timmy."

"I'm Celestine Graham, but you can call me Noir." I said.

"Graham? Like cookie grams?"

"Not cookie gram! Graham! G-R-A-H-A-M."

Timmy only laughed, saying something that they still sounded similar no matter how the name was spelled. From him infectious laughing, I couldn't stop my own smile and soon enough I was joining him in his laughing. Someone once said that laughing was the best cure, and every now and then, they were right.

"Alright, enough dilly-dallying! Let's be on our way." Timmy said and resumed the walk.

All through the way, Timmy talked about the Shire and the simple way of hobbits that lived in the beautiful, lush green fields with endless vision of rolling hills. I was surprised that hobbits loved to eat seven times of the day, it made me wonder how they kept it all in...

Fortinbras was waiting for us, talking to some people before excusing himself politely when he saw me and Timmy coming down the road from the main town. The top-hat hobbit greeted us with a wide smile on his face.

"Hullo again, Miss Graham!" he gave a quick look over me before catching my eyes. "You all right now?"

"Yes." I said.

"Well, lets get started, shall we?" the older man rested an arm around my shoulder and I followed him as we walked down the road.

I kept to mind of Gandalf's warnings and told Fortinbras that I had just gotten lost in the woods and I hand wandered for hours aimlessly until the old giant found me. I gave the hobbit names and described faces of my parents but I knew it wouldn't do much good, but it was better to keep the Thain occupied with something so he would stop asking questions that would make him anymore suspicious of me than he already was about my sudden appearance.

Not to mention I wore strange clothes and talked really odd with weird phrases that no one of their time or world has ever heard of. There was a concern though, something about what was to be done with me at the mean time for the search of the non-existent South Dakota. It was pretty obvious I couldn't continue to live in the room provided for me by the innkeepers.

"Well, you could work with me." Timmy suggested.

"Work? What do you do for work?" I asked the older boy.

"Farming, gardening, cleaning, minding someone's fauntlings..."

"Fauntlings?"

"He means children." the Thain supplied and gave a critical look at my hands. "You best wear gloves dear, those hands of yers tell me you hadn't done a single work in your life!"

That was true, the only work I've done was clean dishes and fix my bed.

In the case of surviving and earning a living, I didn't have a lot of options and there was no telling when Gandalf would come back. That, and I didn't want to be kicked out in the streets because I wasn't motivated to clean after someone.

"Okay," I agreed to Timmy's suggestion. "When do I start?"

"We can get started when find you the appropriate clothes." the elder hobbit said as he gave another look at my T-shirt, pants, and sneakers.

Hours later, after bargains were made and payment was due from someone's owed favor, I was dressed in a simple white blouse (with puffy short sleeves) that tucked nicely under a dark old bodice that wrapped around me nicely but a real hassle to put on. The skirt, I really could have done without, but it seemed to get people to stop staring at me so strangely, the women clucking at how indecent it was for a young lady such as myself to walk around wearing boy trousers.

Oppressive bunch the hobbit ladies were, but I did as told so not as to anger them and have them toss me out in the wild. Besides, they were willing to help and I remembered my manners.

I, however, refused to removed my footwear. I have sensitive feet, not thick and tough soles that every hobbit seems to have. As strange as it was for a "fellow hobbit" to wear shoes, they let bygones be bygones and got down to how I would begin work.

"C'mon Noir, I'll show you the ropes to gardening!" Timmy said enthusiastically.

Timmy led me down the road where there was work to be done. Hesitant and reluctant in the life thrust onto me, I followed after the boy to begin my work in the new world.

I just hoped I wouldn't suck at the gardening gig, I wasn't much of a green thumb as everyone else but I was going to try.


	5. Games and Decency

**Author's Note: **Someone wanted to know how old Noir was; right now she's fourteen years old. Remember, this takes place before the beginning of the Hobbit, but just give me a few chapters and we'll be where we need to be. Plus, this is about Noir adjusting to the ways of the hobbits and she has to grow up a little before thinking about going out to an adventure. Now, I've updated and I hope you guys review afterwards!

* * *

Work, without the dependence of modern time tools, was hard.

When someone wanted to cut weeds from their lovely, decorative stepping stones, you pull it out with your two hands; they don't have weed whackers.

When someone wanted to have clean and dry clothes, you get a bucket full of water and soap and hang it on some wires to dry; they don't have washing and drying machines.

When someone wanted to have their dishes cleaned up, you pump water into the sink and fill it up with soap, grab a sponge and start rubbing; they don't have dish washing machines.

All the everyday items that I had grown up with and never really thought about was completely gone and had yet to be invented and they wouldn't be until a hundred some years later, probably. The point was that it made work much harder and you suddenly find new appreciation of the things you had taken granted for!

"Oh my God, I think I'm getting blisters on my blisters!" I whined as I looked down at my hands.

Timmy ignored my complaints and looked at my work, inspecting every little thing to make sure my efforts were to utmost perfection. The thing about hobbits that even as they like to grow things, they are very picky and sharp when it came to their precious little flowers! Something about how you can tell a hobbit's story by the look of their garden.

"You did better than before, I say," Timmy remarked before getting back to his own work. "Just remember not to pull on those roots too roughly or you'd be butchering the flowers in the process!"

"Yeah, yeah..." I sighed and went back to work.

A few days after I started working and I was beginning to regret that decision because all I seemed to do was work, work, and work! But the bright side of this was that I was doing something, however unwanted it was, I had something to keep my busy rather than stay cooped up in some room where I was miserable in my lonesome thoughts of home and family. Timmy was my only companion through the days I've been in Hobbiton, Fortinbras was off on duties of his own and barely any other hobbits would socialize with me since I was viewed as a stranger of their lands but at least their talks seemed to die down a bit.

"Timmy, I hate gardening." I said to him, wanting to make conversation just to pass the time.

And he caught on pretty quickly. "Don't let anyone hear you say that. That's blasphemy, ya know!"

"The only time I'd ever come outside is when I want to go walking in the woods or just play with some friends. We'd play baseball, football, soccer..."

"Never heard of those games before, Noir. How do you play them?"

"Okay, with baseball there has to be, like, nine players from two teams and..."

The more I talked about the workings of the sports, the more curious and astonished Timmy grew to be when he listened intently. My talking gave me an idea.

"Hey, after work, why don't we play? I can teach you!" I excitedly told Timmy.

His eyes grew wide as saucers and a wide smile spread on his boyish face that I couldn't help but put a similar smile of my own.

"Alright!"

The door behind us opened and we both looked up to see Mrs. Boffins step out. The older woman was round, much rounder than most hobbits I've seen so far, and she had the roundest and reddest cheeks like she had been laughing so much. She was a friendly lady who loved cooking all sorts of pies, a hobby that she turned into a profession since I've seen her in a pie shop back at Bywater.

"Hello Mrs. Boffins." Timmy and I greeted the mistress.

"Oh, you've both finished my garden nicely!" she noted and gave me a knowing look. "And without any trouble, too."

I ducked my head and looked at my gloved hands instead, embarrassed from the last time I had worked here was when I had accidentally pulled some of her herbs when I had thought they were weeds. I got quite an earful and poor Timmy had to tell her with promise that I would do better for I was still new and had known nothing about gardening.

"Well, our work is mostly done," Timmy said as he stood up and removed his gloves to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Will that be all, Mrs. Boffins?"

"Yes, let me get my purse..."

Much later when all was said and done, I went around the town searching for a decent stick that could come close to being served as a bat. The closest was something I recognized as a cricket bat. Timmy found a ball and I used a garden glove as a mat. Armed with the right tools, we both headed off onto a somewhat abandoned field that I thought was suitable for our little game.

"Just stand right there and I'll be over there!" I told him and took my place a few feet away from him which I deemed was a good distance away from Timmy. "Okay, here I go! Remember what I told you; swing your bat when I throw the ball!"

I pulled the ball close to me and watched Timmy shuffle on his feet at the base of a pad I put down beneath his feet, the poor guy looking unsettled when everything went quiet between us. With no warning, I pulled my arm back and then slung it forward, releasing the ball from hands and watch it fly towards the hobbit teen.

Timmy swung a wide arc... and missed the ball completely.

"That'll be strike one!" I told him.

He only shrugged his shoulders as if to say _'whatever'_.

The process repeated itself until the third strike and I went ahead and took the cricket bat for my turn.

"So I just throw at you, now?" he asked as he stood where I once had been with playing pitcher.

"Yeah. Just make sure to throw it at me, otherwise we'll get nowhere." I told him as I tapped the head of the cricket bat on the toe of my shoe.

"And I won't hurt you... right?"

"Not if you're a really horrible pitcher." I answered him honestly.

I watched as Timmy took the same pose as I had and stood there for a few moments before he threw his arm back and flung it forward, releasing the ball. Soon as the little round sphere came into range, I swung the bat widely and grinned when it made contact with the ball. I watched the ball sail over Timmy's head before landing with a small thud in the grass.

"OH, THAT WAS AWESOME!" I shouted out loud with exuberance.

There wasn't much trouble after that.

The longer we played, some nearby hobbits would stop and look at what the whole shouting and laughing was about. A lot of people found our game queer, but that was mostly the adults, because soon enough there were guys mine and Timmy's age watching the game with curiosity. I had to stop when a couple of boys came up and asked what sort of game we were playing.

"Why don't you get some gloves and find out for yourself?" I said to them.

Nearly half an hour later, the field was littered with hobbits that were shouting and running around. People taking turns with pitching and batting, infields and outfields going after the ball or catching it when it flew in the air. It was the most fun I've done in so many long days.

"Oh, gosh!" I gasped as I flopped on the grass and watched the other boys play. They were quick to catch on the game and I had to get away for a breather. "That was fun!"

"It was!" Timmy laughed from beside me.

"We should do this every time we have free time, yeah?"

"We'll see."

* * *

Every day since I started working with Timmy, I would wake up from the room I would rent, take a bath, and put on my hand-me-down clothes that no one would keep. They were alright, just a little loose around the mid-section since I was scrawny. The innkeeper once told me to put more meat on because I looked pathetic and half-starved.

I also had to get new shoes when I noticed my current sneakers were beginning to wear down from being constantly used, so I purchased with the money I earned small a couple of shoes that looked like moccasin ankle boots.

It was weird and a bit scary, being all by myself with no one to truly look after me but my own self. I was only fourteen years old, still standing on the line between a child and a young adult, but right now that didn't matter anymore because there was nothing I could do about it. Sometimes my thoughts strayed back to Gandalf and I would ponder on how he was doing.

Was he still looking for my family? Was he searching for answers of me being in this world? Was he even doing what he said he was doing?

Sometimes I would have doubts. I doubted that Gandalf had gone off for help, rather he lied and just dumped me and left me to keep wondering about how I would get home.

And sometimes Timmy would shake a hand in front of my face and ask what the heck I was day dreaming about now. Well, I thought to myself as I sat on the grass on a small break from work, if I was indeed left to this place then I suppose it wouldn't be too bad. I had Timmy and I was slowly gaining trust and friendship with some of the hobbits and that's all I really needed to keep myself going.

* * *

"You know," I said after I swallowed a bite of cheese. "We should probably find another field."

"Mm," the older boy hummed in agreement. "A bigger field."

The following days after the hobbit boys discovered their love for baseball, more and more had come to join in on the game and played, bringing their own garden gloves and cricket bats as well as balls to keep the game going. And it was getting very crowded on the small field that we had to stand on the roads to keep out of the way.

Timmy opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a shrill voice coming from behind us.

"You, worker!"

I saw Timmy's eyes go wide with horror and I turned around to face who the cause of such fear was. Soon as I did, I felt a sharp pinch on my chest and I jumped away, looking down to see the end of a bright yellow umbrella poking and prodding at me. I slapped the thing away and pulled my head up to face the owner.

A girl, my age or a bit younger, was standing there with her bright yellow dress that I could tell was definitely new and fancy and her sunhat sparing her from the bright sun. Her pretty face had a look of disdain and as if someone had ruffled her feathers and it was directed solely on me.

_'What have I done?'_ I wondered.

"You're the one that caused all this ruckus, aren't you?" she demanded, pointing her umbrella at me again that I had to back away so she wouldn't stab me with it again.

"Uh, yes?" I answered her, a bit unsure and looking to Timmy for help.

"I see!" she narrowed her eyes at me then and I couldn't help but shudder a little. "Have you any idea that you have uprooted and turned this place since you've started you game?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how almost every boy is too busy playing their stupid games to realize they are blocking roads and disrupting the quiet peace with their awful racket! There are people here who are having a smoke and tending to their gardens, they are quite upset that their evening meal is becoming spoiled because of you lot!"

While she went on her rant, I looked over her shoulders and noticed that we were only a mile away from the smials, so there was no way we were really bothering anyone. The only way they would hear us is when someone came to us... but I suppose I should probably go ahead and do something about it. I turned away from the girl and used my two pinkies before giving a loud and long whistle to catch the attention of the hobbits.

A few seconds later, everyone stopped what they were doing. Seeing as I had their attention, I pulled my hands out and shouted loud enough for all to hear me.

"Hey fellas, we have to move to a bigger field! Grab your stuff and lets go!"

With that said, everyone grabbed their bats, gloves, and the four plates before heading to one direction which they thought had a wide and spacious field. I turned back to face the girl and saw her astonished face, probably expecting to be difficulty and mayhem. I offered her a small smile as a gesture of good will.

"That okay for you?"

She only glared at me.

"We should probably be going, Noir." Timmy muttered from next to me.

"Noir?" the girl heard before her face scrunched up. "What sort of ridiculous name is that?! But I suppose it suits you for being a ridiculous and unbecoming lady who plays with boys only."

"That's not really my name and I don't have a lot of lady friends." I said with a calm tone, not letting her words get to me, a technique I picked up at school against girls that looked for anyone to pick on.

"And I can see why! Who would be friends with someone like you? You are but a poor, lost creature who has no business being here! It seems your very existence is based on causing mischief! If anything, your much worse than a Took!"

"Okay...?" I began to back away from her. "I'm gonna go now and play with my friend, so, bye."

I ignored her sputtering and quickened my haste, pulling Timmy along who gladly followed my example. When we were a bit distance away from the girl, I looked over my shoulders to see her heading the opposite direction before I looked to Timmy.

"Who was that?!" I demanded out loud. "And what the hell was her problem?!"

"That, my dearest friend," Timmy let out a long suffering sigh. "was Lobelia Bracegirdle. The most dreadful hobbit in the whole Shire."

"God, she's horrible!" I said as we caught up with the boys.

"Did Lobelia give you one of her tongue-lashings?" one boy, Alvis, asked me.

"Uh, yeah, she did." I answered him and some of the boys shook their head in sympathy.

"She always likes to ruin everyone's fun!"

"Dreadful girl, it would do us all a favor if she never showed her face in these parts again."

"Knowing her, she'd do that just to spite ya!"

Everyone talked on and on how bad the Lobelia girls was, most vowing that they'd never take her hand in marriage no matter how wealthy her family was. No one would ever be tied down to someone like her and I wouldn't blame them for thinking that.


	6. Don't You Worry Child

**Author's Note: **We're getting halfway across this small filler arc of Noir integrating with the Hobbits. I could taste the end of this small series coming so that I can start on full throttle with the dwarves coming in through Hobbiton to Bilbo's house! I'm so excited! There must be a lot of you bored of this but trust me, we're almost there. This story and Noir's state of being must be very unrealistic, but that's because I'm doing this as fast as I can without seeming to be too hurried. Well, I hope that you'll like it and leave reviews. Thank you and enjoy!

* * *

Moving into a house was something both scary and exciting.

I stood in the middle of a tiny smial somewhere in the far length of Bagshot Row, a place a couple smials away from Timmy and the Brown family's smial. Inside the home was two bedrooms, a single bathroom, a small living room, a kitchen and pantry. The place was not quite as big as the ones I've seen from the more upper class homes, but that was to be expected. However small it was, it looked cozy and that was good enough in my standards.

"I'll take it!" I announced out loud.

Teagues Pott, a hobbit who worked under Fortinbras Took and oversaw the papers of the office, and the Thain himself were both skeptical and unsure of the whole idea of a young fauntling as myself should be living on her own. I agreed with them, but I pointed out that I couldn't keep living inside the tavern inn the entire time!

"But you're still just a child, Ms. Graham!" Mr. Pott continued to argue. "No child should ever think about buying a home when they have all the time in the world to still be young."

"Sometimes we all have to grow up," I told him once. "And I really don't have a choice in the matter with me being all by myself, either."

And that was the end of Mr. Pott's insistence.

Over the following months I've been here, I had collected enough money I had earned to support myself. The most money I've earned was from minding the children from large families who demanded attention and entertainment. The first few days of babysitting was hell but I eventually got the toddlers and older children to follow a routine I would set up; something I had learned from watching Daddy Daycare.

We would have makeshift puppets and make up plays, play little league baseball, have after dark story-telling with marshmallows and chocolate, and have the occasional journey around the Shire on a pretend adventure to find a holy instrument that was safely guarded by evil white rabbits!

The influence of having a routine kept the kids in line and that resulted in better pay and better reputation amongst the hobbits that were lessening their guard around me. I was not just some trouble making girl who had only boys for friends and wasn't afraid to be unladylike; I was a responsible young lady who knew how to follow important rules and had common sense to take care of little children.

But that didn't mean everyone would like me...

Especially when it came to Lobelia Bracegirdle, the harpy-girl, as me and Timmy liked to call her.

Anyway, I saved enough earnings to finally buy myself a cheap and small home for myself. No doubts that there would be head shakes and gossip about how much trouble a young tween would make in the effort to try and keep a home, but I didn't mind them. After all, I've seen my mom and dad take care of bills and mortgages and this wasn't complicated, so I suppose I would do alright.

Well, I hope I do alright.

* * *

"Ugh! It's heavy!" shouted Tonbo as he and Alvis carried a couch towards the living room.

"Careful! I swear you guys, if you so much as break any of my stuff, I will end you!" I warned them, giving them promise of retribution should my new belongings be damaged.

"Easy for you to say, you're not doing anything!" huffed another hobbit, Milo Rumble, who was helping three others with a kitchen table into its intended destination.

"What are you talking about?" I dramatically whipped away from Milo and faced Tonbo and Alvis. "I'm supervising."

"More like whipping us to your bidding."

"Shut up and get to work, slave!"

Alvis nearly dropped the couch because of how hard he was laughing so hard that his sides started to hurt and his fingers nearly slipped from beneath the couch. It was very lucky that I had a lot of guy friends with me, otherwise me and Alvis were going to have some words...

The following days I've moved into my smial, I had went to the nearest ware recommended by one of the boys that sold nice household furniture and items that were affordable enough. I worked extra hard to gain some more cash, from gardening, to babysitting, and house cleaning but I eventually had the money I needed to get myself started in my new home.

Beds, tables, dishes, couches and armchairs, the whole familiar things I needed to make it the closest thing I had to a home.

_'Maybe when Gandalf comes back for me, I can give sell it and let someone else live here.'_ I thought about Timmy, how he often complained how crowded and noisy it was with his eight brothers and sisters.

Timmy Brown was my best friend since we first met, he stuck with me despite being an outsider and odder than normal folk. I wasn't a hobbit, from the lack of pointed ears and big feet, but I wasn't human either, from my unnatural short height. He wasn't sure of me at first but he didn't seemed bothered by it as our time together grew far more frequent.

Me and Timmy. Timmy and me. Everybody knew by now that wherever Timmy or Noir was, the other was not far behind.

Day twelve, after all was settled and done with, I stepped inside my very own house... and it was so scary as it was exciting. It was still a bit empty, the walls bare from paintings and other personal materials, but that would be taken care over time.

As for now, what was the first thing I wanted to do in my new home?

Invite the guys over, of course!

Timmy was the first to arrive with a small barrel of ale held under his arm, Alvis followed some fifteen minutes later, and finally Elwood and Milo showed up an hour later because they had been down at the Green Dragon, the local pub. The last two hobbits had yet to sober up so we left them on the couch while Alvis and me got to cooking dinner.

"You're goin' to need how to feed yourself otherwise you'll starve yerself to death, Noir." Alvis said as he rolled his sleeves up.

"That's why I got you guys." I shot back as I pulled out the pots and pans.

A lot of hobbits loved their food so much that every man, woman, and child ate at least seven times a day; from breakfast to second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, supper, and dinner! I was shocked of how much they could fill those tiny bodies of theirs with so much food just as they were shocked that I didn't have so much of an appetite as the rest of everybody. Alvis looked scandalized by the amount of food I had, or lack thereof.

In no time, Alvis, with some little help from yours truly, had prepared us all a meal that looked like the closest thing I'd call a spaghetti dinner. The smell roused the two drunks from the living room and they stumbled into the kitchen, their clothes wrinkled and hair wild.

"This looks delicious. Thank you." I said as I took a seat.

"Yes, yes, you can grovel at me later, now eat!" Alvis said as he sat at the other side of me.

"Thank goodness, I'm starved!" Elwood wasted no time in digging in.

"Have some manners, will you?" Timmy cuffed him behind the ear, shaking his head at disgust. "Pig!"

"Is this all we're eating?" Milo asked as he looked around the table for anymore, but there was nothing but his wooden tankard full of water (no one wanted to give him or Elwood anymore ale) and a loaf of bread sitting in the middle of the table.

"And that's all you'll be having tonight, too." Alvis said with finality.

"Man am I really glad I'm not you..." I muttered under my breath before taking a bite.

"Aye," both Alvis and Timmy agreed.

Through the rest of dinner we talked and gossiped a little from what happened at work, who got the most home runs from baseball, and what was going to happen the next following months near the coming winter.

"Pray it will not freeze the river again."

The mood suddenly shifted dark and quiet that I felt so left out. What about the river freezing? Rivers always froze at winter time, that was fact. When I opened my mouth to make inquiry I felt a hand on my own and I looked to see Milo shake his head at me. Understanding that this was a subject not to be easily approached, I closed my mouth and went back to eating.

We didn't talk anymore that night and it wasn't long that I was left alone as the boys went home.

* * *

"I want a story!"

"I want to play Muppets again!"

"I want to fight killer rabbits!"

I was taking care of a brood of at least nine children the next day. Parents Ollie and Piper Perkles were off to a busy day at the fields to harvest since it was close to the end of August and the beginning of September. Already the warm weather was steadily ceasing and letting cooler breeze to brush by in Hobbiton. It wasn't cold enough for everyone to start wearing jackets but someone said it wouldn't be that long when we're all freezing our bare feet off!

"Perry! Why don't you start with a story?" I suggested to the youngest of the nine Perkle children.

The boys groaned and whined how it would be a story of princes finding their princesses after having defeated dragons and trolls on the journey to find their true love.

"Guys, don't worry. Afterward, we can all go and give those bunnies holy grenades."

The boys cheered before I had to settle them down so Perrywinkle "Perry" Perkles would begin her little story-telling.

"Once upon a time, there was a lonely girl..." little Perry began. "She was very lonely but she was very cheery and fun that a lot of people liked her. But she was still so very lonely. But then a magical sorcerer came and took her on an adventure!"

Perry's sisters were hanging on their little sister's words and while the boys tried to hide it, they were leaning in, keen on wanting to know what happened next.

"She traveled a loooong~ way, too! But she met lots of people and made many friends, from silly Big Folk to elves and dwarves! Everyone loved her very much because she was nice and friendly, so not wanting to be apart, the men, elves, and dwarves followed after the girl and she was never lonely again, The End!"

"Wow!" I said as I clapped with everyone else. "That was a good story!"

"Wait!" one of her brothers spoke up. "What else happened? Didn't she ever go home?"

Perry froze at that question, suddenly realizing that she forgot the most important thing in the story. I, however, stepped in on that case.

"Listen up, it's not the point of that girl in the story to go back home, what's important in the plot was that she was a lonely girl that wanted to have friends. And in the end, she got what she wanted. You understand?"

Slowly, the boy nodded.

"But did she ever go home though?" asked the oldest of the nine, Willow.

"Well," I slowly began as I leaned back from where I sat on the soft green grass where we had gathered to hear Perry's tale. "Wherever your loved ones are, that's where home is."

Everyone sat quietly, most likely mulling over my words. I stood up and dusted the grass and twigs off the back of my dress and turned to the boys with a mischievous smile on my face.

"Now who wants to blow up those rabbits sky high?"

The boys gave a war cry while the girls screamed before they all ran in one direction with me trailing right behind them.


	7. A Visitor

**Author's Note:** Am I happy to be here again! Another update, but we're finally at the half point and we're halfway finished in this little arc to start the whole Hobbit journey! I'm very excited! Are you guys excited? If you are, you better leave a review! So anyway, we're getting close to something else as well, I won't reveal it to you, but I think by the time you finish reading this chapter, you'll figure it out for yourself. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

The once green Shire was growing cold and the plants and animals returning to sleep, waiting for the next spring to come and awaken them. September was a time for me to do my late winter shopping for clothes and food. I ended up buying a lot pantalettes to drive away the chill from by bare legs that hid under my skirts and wore extra socks for my little boots.

At winter, I found another interesting tidbit about hobbits. Even in the cold, blustering weather, they still refused to wear shoes, just pull on a wooly socks that didn't cover their toes and continue on with their lives.

One evening, when I had gone with Tonbo to join him in gathering firewood for our own respective smials, I let the questions fly.

"Aren't your feet cold at all?" I asked Tonbo as he scaled up a tree, removing weak branches that would serve as perfect firewood.

"Not really..." he said distractedly. "Our hobbit feet is tough enough, so... we don't get hurt or cold as easily as Big Folk."

"Can you walk on fire and not get hurt?"

"Okay!" he laughed as he looked down at me. "That's pushing it, that is!"

"You hobbits are a bunch of crazies." I said to him as I gathered the branches.

"Says the pot calling the kettle black."

After taking as many as we could carry back, I bid Tonbo a good evening and we both went our separate ways. On the walk home, I observed how everyone had their own way of preparing for the cold that was soon to come in Hobbiton. I tried to hold in a laugh when I saw a family carry a pile of food into their home and it was probably the same in every household.

I've been invited to enough dinners to know how much hobbits eat and how full their pantry's are, it was ridiculous and outrageous. It was a good thing I didn't have to worry about my food stock, I didn't eat as much so there would be no worried about me running out of supplies.

The only thing I had to worry about was when the guys would visit me. If they so much as try to eat all of my food, they were going to pay it back with their own food supply!

Hobbits, while they can handle the cold, didn't particularly like winter altogether. It reminded me of the time when I had dinner with the boys some time ago, and it had to do something with the Brandywine River freezing over. If they couldn't even talk about then it most likely meant that it was something everyone would rather forget.

The longer I thought about it, the more it made me hope that it wouldn't snow or freeze any rivers. I really didn't want to think about what sort of scenarios these poor people had been through to make them afraid of the winter season. I have seen enough movies, documentaries, and news coverages to come up with a couple of ideas.

* * *

I stirred the soup slowly, watching vegetables and small pieces of meat surface briefly before they dove back in the murky liquid. In inhaled the scent and exhaled quietly, my mouth watering just looking at the delicious soup.

I loved Alvis' mother's cooking, she made great food (well, everyone made great food!) and I was very happy when she decided to teach me some of her recipes. My skills at cooking were mediocre but it beat trying to find some microwave that would cook me box dinners.

Cooking also made me think of mom, and think of mom made me think about the rest of my family. Nostalgia made me feel so sad, I was alone and in another place that didn't exist... a world full of elves and goblins and hobbits. Even after all this time it was still hard to take it all in, being told that every creature I've only heard from a fairy-tale was a living and breathing creature in this strange world.

It would almost be half way to a year since I arrived in the Shire at April, my fifteenth birthday was coming up in December and suddenly wondered, how was I going to celebrate my birthday? Would I be alone? No way, I pushed the gloomy thought way, I could invite Timmy, Milo, Alvis, Tonbo, and some of the guys, too!

Yeah, I could just imagine it. A birthday party at the baseball field where we would be eating cake while playing.

**Knock. Knock.**

I paused at clockwise motion and looked at the entrance of the kitchen to the small hallway. Was someone at the door? I turned my head to stare in front of me and saw that it was pretty dark out, the sun having sunken an hour ago.

I blinked when another knock sounded. It's probably one of the guys, having gone to the Green Dragon and was too drunk to get home by themselves. I pulled off my apron and headed towards the door where there was another knock.

"I'm coming! Hold your horses, I ain't going anywhere!" I said loudly before I reached the door.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open, expecting to see Milo or Tonbo—or both!—slumped against the door frame or passed out on the small garden I made a few week prior.

Instead of seeing either of the two hobbit boys, I'm looking at a waterfall of gray robes. A familiar scene playing out before me, I lifted my eyes upwards to be greeted with a bushy-faced elderly man who's eyes were twinkling with amusement. Everything inside me just stopped working for a moment before it all snapped and combusted in one outburst.

"GANDALF!"

The old wizard coughed and stumbled back when I jumped his legs, barely wrapping my arms around him while I buried my face into his stomach. Never in my life have I ever been happy to see the old giant with the pointy hat and frizzy white beard!

"Good to see you again, my dear." Gandalf chuckled as he patted my head.

I abruptly pulled away from him, looking up to him with hope. "If you're here, then it means you know what's going on, right? It means I can go home!"

Whatever joy he had in seeing me slowly ebbed away at the mention of the secretive subject he had wanted to keep to myself until his return. The somber expression started to affect what optimism and hope I had left but his hands held onto my shoulder.

"Let us take this private matter inside, hm?" he motioned towards my home.

"Sure."

Later on, I entered the living room with a hot mug of coffee, something I was glad the hobbits sold at the markets. Gandalf gave a quiet thanks as he took the offered mug and made himself comfortable on the small sofa. I took my seat on the armchair, watching with a daze as Gandalf drank the coffee quietly. I was nervous. I wanted him to hurry up and tell me what I wanted to know because I was so damn tired of waiting, but I wanted him to take his time on breaking it to me how bad my situation was.

"Noir?" Gandalf spoke up.

"Hm?"

"I had went away and sought guidance to my most trusted allies, they had told me a many great things." he said.

I sat a little closer at the edge of the armchair. "What did they say, Gandalf? How did I get here?... How can I go home?"

Gandalf gave me a look of sympathy, my desperation written plainly on my face. All I could think of was how long I had been away from my family and friends back in South Dakota.

It was a strange and scary feeling, being away from them and home for such a long time. It was like I was starting to forget what it meant being inside a home I had grown up in and starting to imprint in the new one I had gained here. It was a disturbing thought, that the longer I stayed here, the objects would soon turn to people, me replacing my family and friends with Timmy and the boys.

I loved my friends here, I do, but I didn't want to suddenly replace them with my old friends that I had known since we had started kindergarten together.

"They know that you, a stranger from a realm unknown to us, has come. But what they do not know is how."

His words made me feel so defeated. Like I had been enduring this ordeal the whole time by sheer force of will, by a dream that he would come back and use his magic stick to return me where I originally came from. But the dream died and the world shattered around me to reveal the reality of the situation; I was never going home and I was never going to see my family again.

For the first time in many months, I broke down in tears.

_'No no no nononononono!' _

"My dear, do not give up hope!" I heard Gandalf say, sounding quite put off by my tears.

"I'll n-never see my mom and dad again!" I sobbed out to him, feeling angry and hurt.

"Young lady, you clearly misheard me and assumed the worst! I only said that they had no idea how you came here, I never said there was not a way to return from whence you came!"

My sobbing ceased a bit from the information.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place...?" I asked him, feeling irritated as I wiped away the tears and mucus from my face.

Gandalf offered a handkerchief, something I gladly accepted from him, and cleaned my face properly. While I was doing that, he went ahead and talked some more.

"Now that you've calmed yourself, I have other things to tell you from what I've learned."

I urged him to continue. "Please do."

"Your case, as I believe I once told you, is very strange and unusual. I've been investigating things that have happened recently over the few years."

"And I'm a part of these happenings... how?"

"I believe you are from another realm, something that The One had no doubt created Himself besides this place."

"You mean... you mean, like, God?" I pointed towards the ceiling, recalling a memory when someone had asked me what "oh my god" had meant.

"He who made all things, most call Him Eru, but the elves and few others call Him Ilúvatar." he hummed thoughtfully to himself. "I suppose They are on in the same."

Seeing as I was about to break off topic and ask unnecessary questions that could be dealt with at another time, Gandalf shushed me and continued on with what he had learned.

"You must understand now, my dear, that you can't expect a pot full of water to start boiling when you want it to."

I sighed and ducked my head. "In other words, this case with me could take a long while."

He only nodded his head.

"So, what do I do?" I asked him.

"I think you know the answer to that question, my dear Noir." he smiled beneath his bushy beard.

I looked around my home, the place beginning to fill out with the things I had collected from shops and small gifts the boys given me, to make me feel more at home. I gave Gandalf a wary look.

"Are you going to leave soon?" I asked with a small voice.

He leaned back on the sofa and fished in his robes, it wasn't long when he pulled out what he had been searching for; a pipe. People around here loved to smoke, the boys comparing which leaf was the best in the four farthings of the Shire.

"Need a match?" I asked him.

"No need." he politely declines as his finger burst into flame.

I let out a startled gasp of surprise, suddenly seeing why Timmy insisted that Gandalf was a wizard. Seeing my face full of awe and wonder, the old giant let out a chuckle before he waved his finger to extinguish the flame.

"To answer your question, I'm actually here on another business." Gandalf said as he puffed smoke and made impossible shapes.

"Business?" I cocked a brow at him. "What business?"

"The business of bringing fireworks to a certain hobbit's birthday, of course!" Gandalf answered before giving me a wink.


End file.
